Saint Gerasimos (Gerasimos Kefalonia) has long been considered the patron Saint of the Greek island of Kefalonia and its inhabitants. This is the most revered Saint of the local area. It is not surprising that the main temple of Kefalonia dedicated to Saint Gerasimos.

Saint Gerasimos was tonsured a monk on mount Athos, and then went to Jerusalem, where he was ordained a priest. There he spent 12 years in the Church of the Resurrection. After Jerusalem Saint Gerasimos some time lived as a hermit on the Islands of Crete and Zakynthos and, finally, in 1555 settled on Kefalonia. Here he spent the remainder of his life. Died Saint Gerasimos on August 15, 1579.

The first years that Saint Gerasimos held on Kefalonia, he lived in a cave in Lassi (resort suburb of Argostoli). In 1560 he founded a monastery in the valley of Omala (Kefalonia) near the village of Valsamata and called it "New Jerusalem". Till our days there is a small cave-cell under the building of the monastery and a huge plane tree that was planted by the Saint himself. During the earthquake of 1953, the monastery suffered and thoroughly for the most part was rebuilt.

The main relic of the monastery is the incorruptible relics of St. Gerasimos. After his death the body was twice subjected to the exhumation, and every time it was incorruptible (and so it remains). In 1622 Saint Gerasimos was canonized. Today the Holy relics are kept in a separate temple in a glass reliquary. On memorial day of Saint Gerasimos on August 16, a solemn service is held and the relics of the Saint are carried over the sick and infirm. Saint Gerasimos was famous for his miraculous gift of healing people (including the possessed).

Official state holiday in Kefalonia is October 20 – Day of Saint Gerasimos. Today, the monastery of Saint Gerasimos is the most famous and most visited temple of the island. Every year, it attracts huge number of pilgrims from different countries, wanting to touch the Shrine.